Jessica Suave never met Stephen Boland. The two have never taken the same class, lived in the same dorm, never even been in the same room at the same time.

But Suave said she feels a connection to him that only a handful of other students on this campus know and understand, because she is the Remembrance Scholar honoring Boland, a victim of Pan Am Flight 103.

While researching Boland, Sauve, a policy studies and public relations major, found a similarity among the memories of his family and friends.

‘He had a love for life. People kind of got that from him,’ Suave said. ‘He was just a very personable person.’

Boland, who was an advertising major at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, was a member and vice president of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

Suave said she feels the scholars tried to honor someone most people never had the chance to meet.

‘It’s been amazing to be a part of this group and to have this task,’ she said. ‘Especially since a lot of underclassmen were born after the tragedy even occurred. This isn’t something that people remembered anymore or anything like that. We’re trying to keep something alive.’

Published on October 23, 2008 at 12:00 pm